Author's Note: Okay, so this is my first Repo! story. I only recently fell in love with this universe, but it has quickly taken over my life. I hope that you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Repo! The Genetic Opera or any affiliated characters or settings. All rights go to Terrance Zdunich, Lionsgate, and the other people who... own the rights. Yeah.
In the slightly more distant future—the year 2061—a very different world had emerged from the aftermath of the infamous Genetic Opera. The grimy, dark world of Zydrate addiction and the Repo Men was relegated to the fringes of society as, in the metropolis, Amber Sweet led a revolution of "clean living." True, as GeneCo changed, the fortunate could live safer, healthier lives. But beneath the thin veneer of peace, a silent war raged. The Largo brothers and the beautiful Ms. Sweet just couldn't manage to change... Shilo Wallace, founder of the Blind Mag Society for a Better World, was trying to clean up the outer streets, effectively eradicating the source for the powerful family's secret lives. She was their prime target...
In the distance, a video board announced its pleading advertisement. "Provide for others the chance at a better life," a smooth, feminine voice intoned. A pale man with dreadlocks, wearing a long black trench coat, glanced up from his work to watch the commercial. "Send a donation to the Blind Mag Society today. Even the smallest contribution can be the greatest gift."
The Graverobber's lips twitched into a smile when Shilo's face flashed across the screen. As propaganda for another of GeneCo's latest products began, he returned to the body in his arms. With practiced ease, he readied a syringe for extraction. "Sometimes I forget just how much she has grown..." Graverobber slid the needle into the corpse's nostril and pulled the plunger, drawing out the coveted Zydrate. With a pop and a flick, the little glass vial was hidden safely in his jacket. "But it's my job... to steal and rob..."
He lowered his eyes, unable to muster the energy to finish the mantra.
Graverobber rose and with a grunt, hefted the dead stranger back into their sarcophagus. He folded away his Zydrate kit and tucked it into his pocket, preparing to move on to the next row of unknowing victims.
A sound among the headstones made him pause. He didn't fear the authorities, but they wouldn't bother to sneak up on him. This was someone else entirely, and he wasn't comfortable not knowing who. He turned slowly, forcing his body to retain a casual demeanor.
The shadows always seemed to shift and sway on nights like this, when there was just a light haze blocking the sky from view, and a breeze sifted through the overgrown ground. From that liquid darkness, a slim figure emerged.
Five years without poisonous medication had allowed her hair to grow long again, with a silkiness that no wig could mimic. Her eyes, dark orbs that saw too much, flashed even in the dim light. And her skin, as pale as it had always been, seemed to glow in a way that didn't come across in the video advertisements. Shilo smiled sadly.
"The things you see in a graveyard..." she murmured.
Graverobber couldn't help but smile. "Horrors, as usual. Graveyards don't change much, even in a golden age."
She approached him, weaving between the stones. "The dead won't shift unless they're moved, but the living have a propensity to change."
"Then I guess I must be dead." With a bitter grin, Graverobber slipped the Zydrate vial from his pocket and tossed it into the air, then caught it lithely.
She was close enough by then that he could make out the details of the cameo necklace she still wore. "Do you know why I'm here?" She asked with just a thread of annoyance.
"To be philanthropist of the year?" he fired back, hoisting himself to balance on the headstone behind him.
"You know that's not the reason!" Shilo wrapped her arms around herself, and at once he was reminded of the vulnerable teenager. She was staring off into the night, but it was clear she was truly looking into the past. "With my father dead and Blind Mag gone, I had to face my future alone. In a way I was familiar with solitude, but never when it was self-induced." She closed her eyes against the lingering pain.
It bothered him, on some basic level, to see her like this. But what could he really do? With a flick of his wrist, he held the Zydrate vial in front of her. "I can help to numb the feeling," he offered.
"I didn't come here to be your customer." Her tone was laced with bitterness, and she turned away from him fully then. "I used to think of us as friends. It hurts to think that it might end—"
"Then perhaps you should stop cleaning up my clients."
"Graverobber..." She spun to glare at him. "Graverobber, you know you wonder how you ever got in." She closed the last few feet between them, her gaze driving into his. "Graverobber... Sometimes I wonder why you do this at all."
It was his turn to move away. He leapt from his perch, striding over to his latest victim's tomb. He stroked a hand over the worn marble. "Because Zydrate comes at a mighty fine price. And that price is all that keeps me from starving in agony. And who cares if on the way I commit a few felonies? Because in the end, when I die, I become what I sell. Now there's irony."
"But that's not the way it has to be—"
He cut her off again, whirling to face her. "Do you have a proposition for me?" he asked mockingly.
"Yes!"
Silence followed her exasperated exclamation. Graverobber had to compose himself, wiping the shock from his face. Just what was the girl plotting? "And what, may I ask, is it that you propose?"
This was finally what she had come to talk about. She forced herself to calm down; to prevail to him with the logic she knew her plan possessed. "I've been thinking. And the Society has been growing. Growing enough to provide for a few key players... Zydrate empires. The oil that fuels these addicts' fires. I can cut off their source just in time for the clinic..." Shilo trailed off, trying to explain. This was coming out so wrong! "Rehabilitation has to start at the top, and if you help me, I think I can stop the madness. Just think of it. Living without the worry of being 'shot on sight,' or swarmed by people who just might kill for another hit. Can't you see it?" Shilo moved to him and reached out, touching Graverobber's shoulder lightly. "A life without Zydrate to cause all your woes..."
He glanced down into her pleading eyes and couldn't resist brushing a wayward lock of hair from her face. Yes, she had grown up, but was still very young in many ways. "So I get to leave this hell that I chose, and you get to watch as your bright future grows."
"Tell me you'll try," she said, her voice breathy. "Tell me you'll do this, so my dream doesn't die."
Watching the emotions spill through those dark irises, he considered his options. In the end, though, he just couldn't do that to her. With a heavy sigh indicative of the great changes to come, he nodded.
He would help her.
Okay, so I'm trying really hard to stay in character, which isn't horribly difficult, but I'm also making the insane attempt to write the dialogue in such a way that it could actually be turned into song. Please, tell me how I did on both counts. I'm working on Chapter 2 as soon as I finish uploading this, but I wanted to get this out as soon as possible so I could get feedback. I LIVE FOR FEEDBACK!
and fluff. fluff heals the soul.
PS- to all those reading this because it came through their alerts: Hi! I know it's been a very long time. But don't be discouraged; I plan on doing my best to churn out the next chapter of Knight of Darkness tomorrow. Yes, TOMORROW!